Stock investors are wondering if the market's record-setting run to all-time highs is running out of steam and the widely predicted price "pullback" or "correction" is unfolding.

"The recent equity trade is confirming a change in the market gestalt," argues Woody Dorsey, president of Market Semiotics. "The recent disasters and increased volatility are symptomatic of a break in the extreme complacency in markets."

The broad Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, which is 2.4% off its new closing peak, has not suffered a drop of 5% or more, the common definition of a pullback, since mid-November, says Bespoke Investment Group. The last official correction, or 10%-plus decline, was a 19.4% drop in 2011.

The consensus on Wall Street is that stocks, no matter how strong the uptrend, don't go up in a straight line forever, and that the risks of a pullback are "rising." But while most strategists say the market is due for a breather, few are predicting a swoon of major proportions. Most are calling for a drop of 5% to 10%.

Many, like John Praveen, chief investment strategist at Prudential International Investments, insist that even if the market suffers a pullback, it won't signal the end of the bull market. They view any drop as an opportunity to purchase stocks at lower prices and benefit when the rally resumes later in the year.

While stocks might be hurt in the short run by "soggy" economic data, high-profile earnings misses like IBM on Thursday, and continued angst over when the Federal Reserve will dial back its easy-money policies, there's "room for further gains," Praveen says.

"After the soft patch, the economy and earnings will rebound in the second half of the year," he says, citing diminishing headwinds from the government's tax hikes and spending cuts, as well as continued market-friendly stimulus from the Fed.

Paul Hickey, Bespoke's co-founder, says a high-single-digit percentage drop is possible. But he adds that it's not a reason to panic.

"While everyone will freak out about it as it happens, I think in hindsight it will prove to be a good buying opportunity," he says.

Since World War II there have been 56 pullbacks of 5% to 10%, with an average drop of 7% lasting one month, says S&P Capital IQ. Since the bull began in March 2009, there have been 25 pullbacks, with an average drop of 8.3%, Bespoke says.

Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ, says the buy-the-dip mentality will win out: "Since so many investors complained about being underinvested prior to this decline, we may see investors stepping in sooner rather than later."